


a rose by any other name (would be as sweet)

by basicallyiwriteshit



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angst, Big Brother Shimada Makoto, Canon Compliant, Childhood Trauma, Delinquent Yamaguchi Tadashi, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Found Family, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Miscommunication, Other, Punk Yamaguchi Tadashi, Slow Burn, Team Bonding, Tsukishima Kei is Bad at Feelings, Yamaguchi Tadashi-centric, as canon compliant as it can be with minor adjustments
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-26
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:07:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22912954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/basicallyiwriteshit/pseuds/basicallyiwriteshit
Summary: Karasuno's volleyball team is thrown into disarray at the arrival of a new addition-- a delinquent, Yamaguchi Tadashi, that's somehow managed to capture the attention of Takeda sensei. Yamaguchi's life is also thrown into disarray, however, when he finds out that his tough-guy act doesn't work for everyone. Will he finally find happiness in these idiots? Or will he be disappointed yet again?A.k.a. a delinquent!Yamaguchi au
Relationships: Tsukishima Kei/Yamaguchi Tadashi
Comments: 32
Kudos: 219





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So an anon asked me "If you're still taking prompts - could you write an AU where Yamaguchi doesn't meet Tsukki (or only very briefly) and instead gets bullied to the point he just snaps and starts fighting back. And by high school, he's actually known for being a delinquent and picking fights. And is just. Used to being black and blue. And somehow they meet then? Or like, he decides to join volleyball anyway? Idk! And maybe how the other teammates react too? Thanks! :)" over candlenights break and my followers took to to the AU and ran with it. 
> 
> Don't expect this to update regularly, I'm terrible with update schedules.
> 
> Edit: I changed the title. I like the Shakespeare quote on its own, not really in the context of this fic, but I wanted something abt roses (bc thorns) and this one just....flows nicer than the other title I had.

Tadashi Yamaguchi has a black eye the day of his mother’s funeral. 

It’s not his fault, of course; it’s a remnant of the fight he'd had on the day she died, which he didn’t start but he _certainly_ finished. Either way, his grandparents don’t seem to care. They’re disappointed that he’d get into a fight at all, not even thinking to ask him about why he did it (his mom _always_ asked-- she cared so much about him and his feelings and even if she hated seeing him in trouble, she hated seeing him hurting even more). Since the accident, he’s been staying with his grandparents. The last week has been hell, and he feels so helpless. It all happened so fast-- finding out about the accident, getting in contact with his family, planning the funeral...

While the walk to school is shorter from his grandparent's small house, he still gets up early and comes home late; he just can’t _stand_ them. He doesn't want to be there. They always hated his mother, he knows this from the stories his aunt and mother would recount when they thought he wasn’t listening. His grandparents kicked her out and disowned her for keeping Tadashi, wouldn’t let auntie see them until she decided to stop listening to their manipulation and also moved out on her own when she graduated high school. 

They’re strict, and mean, and if he had _anywhere else_ to go he would in a heartbeat. 

The funeral is small. His grandparents, aunt, and a handful of her coworkers that were able to get off work for long enough to visit, all sit in the living room of his and his mother’s apartment. The urn of her ashes on the coffee table between them; it doesn't speak into anything, joke with them like his mother would. It just...sits there. Tadashi can’t do much other than stare at it-- just a week ago he was brushing off her kisses, grumbling how he’s an teenager and he doesn’t need to be babied, and now all she is, is a bunch of ashes in an urn. He tries to be polite and respond to his mother’s coworkers, because they’ve always been so sweet and kind to him, but he just feels...numb. They all leave him their phone numbers, for if he needs anything, and he’s only able to hide his face in his free hand and clutch the list close to his chest. 

By time he’s alone with his grandparents and aunt, he’s tired and just wants to sleep. The stiff clothes his grandmother threw him in are uncomfortable. Tucking the list in his pocket, he stands to go to his bedroom when his grandfather clears his throat. 

“Tadashi, we’re very disappointed in you. Akari, you as well. You were both so disrespectful to our guests who were trying to have a conversation with you, and all you could do is sit and stare at that urn.” 

“They took their time out of their day to see you, and to talk about good memories with Aoi, and you didn’t even thank them.” 

Tadashi grits his teeth. He _did_ thank them, it’s the first thing he said when they came in and hugged him. Even if he didn’t, could they really _blame_ him? 

“And to not even try and hide that black eye! How shameful, and you’re lucky your mother didn’t have any friends.” His grandmother says, reaching over and tilting his jaw so he’s looking at them, and he clenches his fists, anger boiling in him as they talk about his mother like that. “How shameful...” 

“I-- I’m tired, can we talk in the morning?..” Tadashi asks weakly, voice cracking, and his grandmother sighs heavily. 

“I suppose. Come now, go grab some clothes from your room so we can go.” 

“W-- We aren’t-- We aren’t...staying here?..” 

“Why would we stay here? You’ve been at our house all week, we’re not staying in this dump. Go get your stuff.” Snaps his grandfather, and he just nods slowly, turning to go down the hall, when a hand finds his shoulder. 

“No. Get out.” 

Tadashi’s eyes find his aunt, who stands fiercely in front of him, glaring his grandparents down. They both stare at her incredulously. 

“I’m sorry?” 

His aunt shakes her head, her hair falling in her face; Tadashi can see tears running down her face, and suddenly he’s tearing up too. “I said no. You’re not talking to Tadashi like that-- I won’t allow it. This is where he grew up, and you shouldn’t be allowed to badmouth it _or his mother_. This is your _daughter_ , damn it!” 

“I’m sorry? Akari, that is not how you address us. We’re being very gracious letting Tadashi stay with us.” 

“Yes, we’re doing the child a favor. He needed somewhere more stable anyway.” 

“He would’ve had somewhere more stable if you supported Aoi-nee! But all you did was tear her down and block her out of our lives! I’m not letting you do this to us anymore!” Akari snaps. “Get out! I’ll be taking care of Tadashi from now on.” 

“Akari, you--” 

“What about school, you’re going into medical school soon--” 

“I’ll figure it out. Just get out now, and don’t contact us unless you want to apologize for that you’ve done.” 

His grandparents sputter a long moment, before they get up and leave; they don’t ask to take the urn with them, and Tadashi knows from the fiercely protective glare in his aunt’s eyes that she won’t let them. Akari locks the door behind them, and slides down the cool wood onto the floor and just... _sobs_. Tadashi runs over to her and wraps his arms around her thin frame, holding her tight. 

“I’m sorry auntie. I’m sorry. Thank you.” 

A shaky hand cups Tadashi’s head, and his aunt is still crying as she says, “I promise I’ll do everything in my power to keep you safe and happy Tadashi. I promise. For Aoi.” 

-

The day after the funeral, Akari goes to his mother’s landlord and changes her name on the lease, which is probably the easiest part of the whole ordeal-- she cancels her own one-bedroom apartment down town and finds herself job searching for a better job almost immediately; taking care of yourself as a single twenty-two year old is a lot different than raising a child who’s attending school and trying to participate in club activities (Tadashi decides to quit volleyball and Judo for the final year and a half he’s in middle school because he doesn’t want to be even more of a burden to her). It’s a big dose of a culture shock to the both of them. 

Auntie Akari...she tries her best. She really does. She buys him sweets and books and things when she can afford it, but she’s working two jobs to keep them afloat and taking a year off of school for them both to adjust to their new lives and it’s starting to take a toll. 

Akari comes home more often than not late into the night, sleeps a couple of hours, and goes to her second job; Tadashi spends most nights after coming home from school alone. He does his homework, makes his own dinner, and plays games on the old hand-me-down phone Akari gave him. 

But Tadashi is restless. He’s full of pent-up energy and anger, and without volleyball and Judo he has nothing to take those emotions out on except others. If he wasn’t considered a delinquent before, he is now. Getting into fights not only on school grounds, but most of them off grounds so he can’t get in trouble by nosy-ass teachers. He comes home with even more bruises, more scrapes, and his aunt...

She doesn’t notice. 

-

Tadashi meets Shimada Makoto in the summer of his final year in middle school. He’s spent most of the break asleep well into the day, and taking regular naps between school work. One such nap has him wandering into Shimada Mart at nine thirty at night, having missed dinner. He wanders the aisles before grabbing a wrap from the refrigerator section and a popsicle from the small freezer near the counter. The guy behind the counter looks bored, and rightfully so; in the years Tadashi has lived in this neighborhood and gone to Shimada Mart, he hasn’t seen more than ten people in the store at a time, especially so late. 

“Find everything?” 

“Yeah.” Tadashi doesn’t look at the guy as he quickly scans his items, his eyes wandering the front end of store. His eyes catch a handwritten “help wanted” sign right behind the cash register, and he pauses right as he’s about to leave. He thinks back to all of the quiet, cold nights at home. Contemplates. Then, he clears his throat and asks: “Hey, uh...Are you-- Are you still hiring?” 

The guy blinks, frowning. “Huh? Yeah, I don’t think mom’s found anyone. I can give you an application and you can bring it back in the morning when the boss is here?” 

Tadashi nods, offers a smile-- he knows it probably looks weird, he’s a bit out of practice. He needs to look intimidating more than he has to look sweet, but he realizes that may not be the best way to get a job. The clerk pushes up his glasses and ducks underneath the counter, coming up a moment later with a single slip of paper. 

“Here you go. We open at eight tomorrow, and my mother should be here right away.” 

“Thanks.” Tadashi takes the paper, his treats for the night, and leaves. 

The next morning, Tadashi turns in the application and almost immediately gets hired. The older woman who owns the joint seems desperate to find some extra help, because the only other employee is her son-- Makoto, she introduces. The job is easy enough; since he’s only fourteen he can’t work the register until he turns fifteen in November, but he can help unload the truck and stock shelves and the likes. He had a modest paycheck, and it provides him some spending money. 

The biggest perk by far, however, is the fact that it takes up time. 

Now, instead of sitting at home, Tadashi spends his afternoons at Shimada Mart doing busywork. After school, he goes straight to stock the back room and arrange the various displays around the store until around ten each night. Sometimes he’s working with the boss lady, but mostly it’s only him and Makoto in the store. It’s quiet, but not in the way it is at home. At home, it’s...suffocating. No noise at all, unless he leaves the tv on or window open. Shimada Mart is quiet, but there’s always _some_ noise; the sound of customers coming in and out and makoto’s radio playing quietly in the background, or cans clunking against metal shelving units as Tadashi packs them into neat rows. 

A couple of months into his job, Tadashi notes that every Tuesday at around five at night Makoto leaves his shift early. As much as he pretends not to care, it piques Tadashi’s curiosity, so one Tuesday as Makoto’s shucking off his apron and his mother steps behind the counter to take his place, he decides to ask. 

“Makoto, where do you go every Tuesday? You’re usually here until closing. 

Shimada smiles at Tadashi. “Ah, I’m on my way to volleyball! A group of guys I graduated with started playing together when we realized a lot of us never really left town.” 

“Volleyball?” 

“Yeah! You play?” Tadashi nods slowly, and Makoto’s smile grows. “Really? Cool! Does your middle school have morning practice only or something?” 

“Huh? Oh, no, they practice in the afternoon...I quit. Auntie and I can’t really afford the sport’s fees right now.” Tadashi says. His cheeks burn in embarrassment, and he looks away. When he looks up again, Makoto has a frown on his face. 

“Next week, why don’t you come with us to play then? We’d love to see if you can teach us old guys anything.” 

“Really?” 

“Yeah! It’ll be fun. If that’s alright with you, mom?” 

“We hardly have anyone here on these days, so it’s quite alright, but I think I’ll keep him tonight.” 

-

Tadashi has a sprained wrist on his first day of high school. 

He’d fallen pretty hard during a dig and he’s lucky he didn’t break it, honestly; he’d kept it a secret for as long as it took for Makoto to notice, which was about twenty minutes after their match had ended. Makoto wraps it, along with an ice pack between the bandage, and sends Tadashi home with the promise to take it easy the next day at work. Which he didn’t. He was still stocking shelves, but he was also running the register now that he’d turned fifteen while Makoto did paperwork in the back office; Makoto’s mother was getting old, and was in a residential home, meaning he’d taken over the store completely. 

Tadashi didn’t want to get behind on any of his work, and so he’d overworked himself with the ace bandage doing next to nothing with how much he’d been moving, which--

Which is how Tadashi finds himself with a hand-me-down brace around his right wrist that Makoto had shoved at him after work the night before with a stern “Don’t come back until that’s at least mostly healed,” and a week off of work. 

Okay, fine. That’s fine. But the damn brace is thick and padded, and his movement is restricted in it. He can’t write all that easily with the hand he writes with bound so tight he feels like his hand might explode. The frustration and anxiety of the first day of school is something Tadashi is no stranger to, but he’s never had to deal with the absolute fury-inducing sensation of having to go through and make notes on a syllabus just to end up having to erase half the stuff because the teacher was presenting for the wrong class. 

So Tadashi is a little miffed as he walks the halls, and so maybe he isn’t paying too much attention while he’s walking down the hall. he doesn’t even notice the guy walking down the hall in the opposite direction until their shoulders catch and he’s thrown back a bit. As Tadashi gathers himself, the guy has the gall to grumble a, “Hey, watch it.” 

“You watch it, asshole!” Tadashi snaps, glaring at the guy that ran into him. “You’re the idiot who was on the phone.” 

“Just watch where you’re walking.” 

“Only if you do.”

“Whatever,” The guy snaps. He stalks off in the direction he was headed, phone now tucked into his pockets. Dick. 

Tadashi watches for a moment before turning away and walks down the hall to his locker. Grabbing his books from his locker and shoving them into his bag, he takes his phone out and texts his aunt that he’s on his way home. The walk is quiet after his shitty, long day and then whatever that was-- for that he’s relieved. Karasuno is much closer to his apartment than his last middle school was, and he plans on keeping this one for a while. 

He doesn’t even bother to call out when he gets home, knowing his aunt is at work right now. He drops his bag in the doorway of his bedroom as he flops onto the bed with a groan. His wrist throbs and his head is starting to split into a mini migraine, and he just wants to sleep for _years_. He gets up and pulls his blinds shut before climbing into bed again, his eyes immediately slipping shut. 

Auntie’ll wake him when she gets home, and he can recount his shitty day to her before she leaves to go to class. Until then, he really is tired. And it he has to have the day off, he might as well take a nap. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tsukishima Kei hates high school. Yamaguchi Tadashi does too, but for different reasons.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...look, I know I said I wouldn't update regularly but this is just ridiculous. I know. Six months? My bad, fam. 
> 
> But it's here now! Got a spark of inspiration and popped this out in two days. Also: I changed the title to this one. I like it better.

Tsukishima Kei hates chewing gum. 

He always has-- though, not for the taste. A cool mint on a hot summer’s day is as refreshing as any popsicle to him, and sometimes he’ll indulge in a fruit-flavored stick of gum offered by Akiteru, but otherwise Kei doesn’t really eat the stuff. No, he hates chewing gum specifically when other people eat it. Some people really have no understanding of proper etiquette. They’ll chew with their mouths open, popping the gum loudly between their teeth, blowing bubbles and--

Yeah. Kei doesn’t like chewing gum. 

The girl next to him in class is chewing some right now. Technically they aren’t supposed to have any, as the teacher is strict about food in class. You’d think that a month into school she’d know this and not be chewing it so blatantly in front of the teacher like that. Kei has half the mind to tattle, but before he can even raise his hand the door slides open and a student is hauled in by another teacher. 

“Hello Tachibana-sensei~ So sorry for keeping Yamaguchi-kun late, we were just discussing some...disciplinary measures during his free period and we went over.” 

Kei’s eyes trail to the student once the teacher, an English teacher, if he remembers correctly, leaves and he grimaces. He remembers this asshole-- he bumped into him on the first day and never apologized. Ever since, it feels like he’s gone out of his way to make some comment at Kei during class or in passing. Kei’s nose wrinkles in displeasure and he turns back to the board to finish writing the notes on the projector before they’re taken away. The teacher scolds the guy, Yamaguchi, and tells him that he’d better stay after class to get what he missed for notes. The kid just rolls his eyes and sits down in the spot next to Kei, just like he has been for the last month. Damn arranged seating. 

The thing is, too-- Kei wouldn’t even mind the guy much if they’d met under different circumstances. Sure, he’s definitely a delinquent, but some of the things he mutters under his breath about the teacher are funny. Too bad Kei’s damn pride over being right trumps the need to snicker along. 

Not to mention the fact that Kei sees him everywhere. 

Apparently Yamaguchi is in the same class as him. How, he doesn’t know-- it seems almost impossible for him to be as smart as he is when he’s always in trouble for one thing or the other. But whenever their teachers hand over work, he has high marks-- sometimes even higher than Kei’s own grade, and Kei works hard for his scores. Kei will at least give the guy props-- he wouldn't be able to keep his grades up if he got in nearly as many fights as Yamaguchi did, so he's gotta be doing something right.

Something is different in Yamaguchi's demeanor when he thinks no one is looking, though. Like right now. His face carries the same I-don't-care look as always but his shoulders, which are usually held proudly, slouch a bit as he sits. The way he gently cups a cold pack against his swollen cheek almost looks...defeated. For a moment Kei feels bad for him. For a moment, Kei contemplates giving him his notes to copy so he doesn't have to stay behind and be late for another class.

For a _moment,_ that is.

Because right as Kei is about to scribble out a note and hand it to him, Yamaguchi pops his gum loudly and Kei's eye twitches in annoyance. He nearly snaps his pencil with how quickly he puts it down. 

He fucking hates high school.

One thing he can at least call a positive-- or, well, a semi-positive, is volleyball. Volleyball is...interesting this year. He doesn’t know how else to describe it. Starting out the year with a three-on-three to decide the fate of two other players is definitely not how he intended to start out the season, but he isn’t all too mad about it; it’s an easy way to get the captain to notice his skills right away, and with his height he’ll more than likely be a starter, and--

He doesn’t care. He won’t set himself up for disappointment. 

Losing to that freak duo and Tanaka-senpai kind of sucks, though. He’d thought that he had it in the bag. 

Not having a coach and then suddenly having a coach was also something to adjust to; apparently, as he’s been told by the upperclassmen, Takeda-sensei had been doing a lot of extra legwork to get the younger Ukai to come coach for them, and he wasn’t entirely sold on the gig yet. They were, like, some sort of trial run to try and convince him to stay. Like test monkeys. 

Speaking of tests, coach Ukai had mentioned a practice match today, and as he hears the gym doors open and a chorus of voices call out, he supposes it’s time. He turns to the door and finds-- 

Well, he finds a bunch of old dudes. Ukai had mentioned the neighborhood association would be coming in, but he wasn’t expecting them to be so old. He thought they might be Akiteru’s age, not in their thirties, but then again. Ukai plays with them, and Ukai isn’t at all the youngest looking. Four of them approach coach Ukai, who greets them with a clap on the back and a grin. “Guys, great to see ya! It’s just the four of you?” 

“Ah, yeah actually...we tried pulling as many people as we could, but with everyone’s work schedules...” 

“But don’t worry! Tadashi actually goes here, so I convinced him to meet us here. We’ll still need another player, though...” 

“Really? Why the hell is the kid not already on the team then?!” 

Tsukishima tunes out the adults as they speak, gathering with the rest of the team. He sees a set of eyes peering in through one of the windows and makes eye contact with the person, who immediately ducks away from the window. Noya yells something, and Kei watches boredly as he runs out and drags a tall third year inside the gym. Coach scolds the guy before he can even protest, and he scampers off to change into gym clothes. They’re waiting a moment before the gym door opens again, and a quiet voice calls out. Kei thinks for a moment it’s the third year, Asahi-san, returning but it’s--

“Oh, hell no.” 

Tanaka-san is the only one that hears him mutter his dissatisfaction upon finding who the final player for the neighborhood association team is, and he hums curiously, following Kei’s gaze before he squawks. 

“Woah, is that a teenager?! Why do the geezers get _two_ high schoolers?” 

“Uwah, I know who that is! Scary~ He’s in class four and always picking fights! What’s he doing here?” Hinata says, and Kei glares at him-- could he be _any_ louder? Yamaguchi seemingly notices them talking about him, because Kei can see him looking over at them, but then one of the adults grabs his attention and his face softens to a gentleness Kei didn’t know the delinquent was capable of. 

Coach calls them into a huddle, gives the starting order with a promise to let everyone play and show off their skills, and then they’re setting up. Kei is in the front at the start of the rally, and he finds pride in being able to block twenty-some-old guys’ spikes like nothing. The first couple of rallies go by easy enough with an even split of points, but the feeling shifts a bit as Yamaguchi takes the back row. The adults begin spitting out more encouragements, and even coach leans forward on the bench, watching with a fire in his eyes. Kei doesn’t understand why until he moves to dig the serve and the ball isn’t where he’d thought it would be. 

In fact, by time Kei is able to process that, it’s already bounced on the floor between himself and Nishinoya. There’s a long moment of silence before there’s cheering from the other side of the net, and all four members of the neighborhood association are clapping Yamaguchi on the back and shouting _“one more, Tadashi!”_

And one more he gets. Then another. Then _another._

Yamaguchi gets in five service aces before Noya, eyes full of fire and determination, is finally able to receive the ball and send it over to Suga. Daichi spikes it over and gains them a point, and now it’s their turn to shock their opponents. Ukai switches Suga back out for Kageyama, and as the rally begins with a serve from Daichi, Tsukishima can sense what’s happening. He’s able to buff the ball to the back when one of the neighborhood association teammates spikes, and Tanaka passes it to Kageyama. Tsukishima blinks, and in that timeframe Hinata is right there next to him, jumping. Kei allows a small smirk at the wide eyes on the other side of the court, where the blockers were preparing to stop an attack from Tanaka, as the ball slams into the hardwood with a deafening _thud_. 

A _thud_ that is quickly followed by a groan when the second year spectating the match calls the spike an out. 

Well, can’t win them all. 

The rest of the game is...actually really fun. Another one of the neighborhood association teammates has that wicked weird serve, and after they’d warmed up the others aren’t as bad as they had been the first couple of rallies. They even have a pretty strong spiker on them. Kei wouldn’t mind another match with them; just not immediately after, like Hinata and Kageyama request. By the end of the match, Kei’s worked up a healthy sweat. He’s helping clean up while the adults talk, and Yamaguchi stands there awkwardly at their side. As much as Kei hates to admit it, he listens in as he passes with the dry mop. 

“Yamaguchi, what the hell?! I knew you were in high school now, but damn, _here_? And you didn’t even consider joining the team like Makoto?” 

“I have work, Ukai-san,” Yamaguchi mumbles, crossing his arms over his chest awkwardly, looking down at the floor. 

“You work at Shimada Mart. Makoto would give you the time off.” 

“Lord knows he has most afternoons off anyway, with how much detention he gets.” 

“Hey! Come on, I don’t get in trouble _that much_.” 

Kei almost laughs at that. He stays silent. 

“Look, all I’m saying is if you joined the team you’d fit in. I’ve only worked with these kids for a couple of weeks and they’re a wild bunch. Might get some of that delinquent energy outta ya-- it’s how my pops did with me.” 

Yamaguchi’s nose wrinkles. “No thanks. Now can I go help clean up, so Makoto and I can leave?” 

“Fine, I’ll let it go. But I know someone that won’t, and he had his eyes on you the whole match.” Kei already knows it’s Takeda-sensei without even needing to look in the direction coach is pointing. He hears Yamaguchi groan, and the sound of gym shoes scuffing the ground as he goes to find something to clean up. By time Kei finishes dry mopping the floor, Yamaguchi is just putting the net back away. Kei puts his mop away and turns without a word, about to exit the closet when a voice pipes up, cool and collected: 

“Nice game, Tsukishima. Receives were a bit sloppy, though.” 

Kei scoffs and turns back to Yamaguchi, leaning against the doorframe with crossed arms. “Yeah, well the only thing I saw that was impressive was that serve. Is average much better than sloppy?” 

Yamaguchi raises an eyebrow with a grin, his eyes dancing with mischief. “I’d like to think so. At least average has some chance for improvement-- your receives looked helpless.” 

Kei rolls his eyes. “If you say so. But hey, I won’t be able to prove you wrong when you’re playing with the neighborhood association team. So you’ll never know.” 

With that, he pushes himself off of the doorframe, winking at Yamaguchi before he heads back to the main part of the gym. Yamaguchi makes an indignant sound, stumbling on his words. 

“I-- You-- Fucking _asshole,_ I oughta--” 

Maybe Yamaguchi isn’t all that bad. He’s still a dick, but Kei does enjoy how easy it is to rile him up. 

-

When Ukai said Takeda-sensei wouldn’t give up, he was right. Tadashi will be the first to admit that. 

Ever since the match with Karasuno volleyball team, Takeda-sensei has been at Shimada Mart; a tactic he was warned about but didn’t really consider. How much money has this man wasted just because he kept buying things in order to talk to Tadashi? At least fifty bucks in a week. And only to be rejected each time.

That isn't the problem, though.

The problem is that, now, Takeda is taking up detention shifts and making him sit in at volleyball practice. Tadashi has half the mind to go to the principal about one of the staff basically stalking him, but he and the principal aren't exactly on good terms. Added to the fact that Ukai is also bugging him to join, Tadashi isn’t having a good time. 

Sure Tadashi enjoys egging the players on with playful jabs at their technique, but it's not like he could match any of them where he's at right now. They're all so skilled and dedicated, they've probably all been playing since elementary school. He doesn't see the point in trying if he knows he'll just be paying the sport's fee to sit on the bench. Plus, with how often he has to meet with disciplinary staff at the school, he’s pretty sure he wouldn’t be allowed to play even if he wanted to. 

“Left, left!” 

“Tsukishima, elbows in!” 

Tadashi sighs. This is the third time in two weeks he’s had detention, and the third time he’s found himself in the gym during volleyball practice, helping the manager of the team as punishment. Right now he’s helping her score a practice match between the teammates. 

“Hinata, Kageyama, stop fighting and work on that quick!” 

“Woohoo! I’m getting hyped!” 

His nose wrinkles as the bald one rips his shirt off and spins it over his head, cheering as he blocks one of Tsukishima’s spikes. That Tsukishima-kun really doesn’t put much effort in. Idiot. He could be a powerful player, but from what Tadashi’s seen (both from the practice match and the various practices he’s been forced to watch), he’s lazy. Not a lot of movement. Tadashi _knows_ he can jump higher than he is, with that height. 

Not that he cares or anything. 

His eyes trail over the various players, to second years he hadn’t seen at the original practice match. He’s more like them. He feels like they’re the kind of people he would be friends with, if--

If he were normal. 

Tadashi’s shaken from his thoughts as a ball slams on the ground next to him, and another point is called for that freak duo’s team. They really are something. And their dynamic is so unique, too. Tadashi would love to get to know how long they’ve worked together, because their quick is absolutely crazy to see, and--

Tadashi checks the clock and sees it’s well past four, and his detention ended a half an hour ago-- cursing, he rushes to grab his bag and get his slip signed by Takeda. Shimada was already disappointed with how many detentions he’s had since school started; he’s going to be more upset when he shows up late to his shift at the store. Once his slip is signed, Tadashi books it towards Shimada Mart without a second thought and gets straight to work upon his arrival. The rest of the evening goes by quick, and soon it’s rounding ten o’clock and Tadashi is sitting in the back room with Makoto, slurping down some miso soup while Makoto counts out the till for the night. 

“So, when are you gonna quit lying to yourself?” 

“Hm?” Tadashi lifts his head, mouth downturned in a frown. Makoto is looking over his glasses at Tadashi with a raised eyebrow. 

“When are you gonna quit lying to yourself and just admit you wanna play volleyball? You act like I don’t know you by now.” Makoto says in reply, as if it’s the simplest thing. Tadashi’s defenses immediately go up, and he glares at Makoto. 

“Well, you’re wrong.” 

“Tadashi, you were late to work today because you were at volleyball practice. It’s okay, you know.” 

“I was at _volleyball practice_ because the teacher supervising it is a _fucking stalker-_ -” 

“Hey, now, no need to get aggressive with me, Tadashi.” 

Tadashi deflates at Makoto’s fatherly tone, groaning. 

“Okay, so what if I do want to? I’d be paying a sport’s fee to sit on the bench at games because I haven’t played a real game since fifth grade. I’d rather just not get my hopes up.” He says, his voice slowly turning more and more sincere. “...Besides, I have work.” 

“Tadashi. _I’m your boss-_ \- I think it’s fine.” Makoto replies blankly. “Seriously. I know those aren’t real reasons. Why are you so scared to commit?” 

Tadashi looks down at his bowl-- or, more, he glares at it as though it’s the source of all of his problems. He bites his lip. “...Like I said, I’d rather not get my hopes up. Volleyball’s a team sport, and I don’t know if you’ve noticed but I’m not much of a team player. They won’t want me around after a couple of practices.” 

Makoto clucks his tongue, and Tadashi looks up at him. “I’ll personally kick the ass of any punk teenager who thinks he’s better than you because you’re a bit rough at the edges.” 

Tadashi scoffs. “Yeah? You and Takinoue and Ukai-san, huh? Beating up first years?” He teases. A light blush coats Shimada’s cheeks. 

“You know what I mean! No one’s gonna mess with you.” Makoto says in his own defense. “I’m serious, though. You’re likeable, I don’t know why you always put up this hardfront. I feel like if you just gave it a leap of faith, you’d realize that.” 

It’s Tadashi’s turn to blush, and he once again looks away from Makoto, turning his gaze to his now cold soup. “...You think? And Auntie wouldn’t be mad?” 

“Your aunt? Mad that you’re channeling that energy of yours into something other than violence for once? I think she’ll be fine with it.” 

Tadashi and Makoto chuckle together a moment, and a comfortable silence falls over them. Makoto counting the money, Tadashi eating his dinner while he does homework. Ten thirty rolls around and Tadashi decides he’d better get home and rest, so he can get to the front office early with his detention slip. Makoto’s used to finishing up office stuff alone anyway. He stands, putting a lid on the empty bowl before shoving it back in his bag. He says his farewells as he hangs his apron up for the night, and is about to leave when Makoto speaks up again: 

“So you’ll at least think about it, Tadashi, right? I think it’ll be good for you.” 

Tadashi sighs. He already knows his answer. 

“Yeah, I’ll think about it. But no promises.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How we feelin' about this one? Let me know in the comments


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tadashi gives in. He, and Kei, are surprised at how easily he fits in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Idk if the pacing is off. It feels a little fast but that might just be me. Anyway. What I'm picturing is Takeda pestering Yamaguchi through golden week, through the seijoh and nekoma practice matches, up until a week before interhighs. He joins right before, they lose to seijoh, the first training camp and them getting closer, and onwards.

Yamaguchi Tadashi is not strangers with shame. He’s had to apologize for a lot in his life that he wasn’t sorry for, and there’s nothing more shameful than that-- though, handing in his application for the volleyball team is edging closer and closer to the most shameful thing he’s done. After dodging Takeda sensei’s pestering for literal weeks and near constantly snapping at Makoto and his aunt for encouraging the behavior, seeing the bright grin on Takeda sensei’s face when he sees the application makes his eye twitch and his hand flex-- ready to rip the paper out of his hand and never return. Maybe he still has time to just drop out of school and work at Shimada Mart for the rest of his life. It would save him a hell of a lot of embarrassment. 

Before Tadashi can take it back, however, Takeda sensei takes the application and tucks it in his messenger bag, the grin on his face never wavering. He tells Tadashi that he'll have to talk with the principal and some of the discipline officers at school, but that he shouldn’t worry about it-- as long as he stays out of too much trouble, he should still be allowed to play. 

Yep. He’s already regretting his decision. 

The morning bell rings, and he decides it’s better to just let it go for now; he’s already in too deep, he might as well ride it out. 

Class is boring. History, Japanese literature, and math all pass by at the same, agonizing speed as always. Lunch comes, and he accidentally bumps into that Tsukishima kid as they both stand to leave. They lock eyes, and for a moment Tadashi wants to just punch him in the face. Tsukishima Kei is the kind of guy that picks on kids like Tadashi, so he feels no remorse when he mutters a quick, _"watch it, four eyes,"_ as he grabs his bento and makes a beeline for the door. 

There’s a corner in the back of the academic buildings that’s almost always empty during the first year lunch hour. He’s glad for the break from the constant barrage of people and information from the morning, and so when he hears his name called right as he sits down, he groans, his head thunking against the wall. Looking over, he finds someone stalking towards him. They’re tall, and mean-looking-- perhaps a second or third year, judging by the way the first years scuttle away as he walks past. When he stands in front of Tadashi, there’s a long moment at they regard one another. 

“You Yamaguchi?” 

A familiar hammering starts up in Tadashi’s chest, but he schools his face as he sets his bento to the side, crossing his arms over his chest. “Who wants to know?” 

"Shinji Tomura, that's who. You were in middle school with me, remember?"

"I was in middle school with a lot of people, hard to remember each one," Tadashi replies boredly, looking the kid up and down. "Now tell me what you want. I'm trying to eat."

"I want an apology."

Tadashi blinks. "Huh?"

"I want an apology. You got me suspended when you started that fight, and my dad beat me senseless when he found out. I only just got ungrounded! So I wanna hear an apology."

He picks up his bento again, only for it to be kicked out of his hands and onto the floor.

"I said I want an apology! It wasn't even my fault, and you still decided to include me in your stupid fucking fight with Nagisa! I'd never gotten in trouble before that, and now that's on my record!"

Tadashi scoffs. "You know it's not actually a permanant record, right? And even if it was I think one detention in middle school won't harm your chances at a career. Better luck next time, though."

"I'm not leaving until I get an apology, asshole!"

Tadashi grits his teeth, standing. He's a good five centimeters shorter than shinji but the way he carries himself is enough to make the other boy take a step back. He's about to throw a punch just to shut him up but down the hall he sees Takeda sensei talking to another teacher. They make eye contact and he sighs as he does the second most shameful thing he’s done in a while: back down from a fight. "Look," he says, "I'm trying not to get into fights anymore. They're the same annoying bullshit every time. But if you don't leave me alone I think I'll be able to make an exception just for you, so I can beat your ass. How's that sound?"

He fakes, and Shinji flinches. "F- Fine, shit! All I wanted was an apology, but you're just a dick inside and out. See you around."

Shinji is as quick to run down the hallway as he came, and Tadashi looks at his bento with a sigh. He's lucky he just decided on rice balls and pork sausage from Shimada Mart but still- he'd barely had two bites of it, and now it's on the floor.

"Guy was all bark and no bite..." He mutters to himself as he sits back down, scooping the now inedible food into the container to throw away later. When he's finished he just leans his head against the wall, eyes closed. "I should've shaken him up for some money to get a milk or something for the trouble."

The bell rings once more and Tadashi stands, taking a deep breath before he saunters back to class.

-

“Uwahhh, you’re back!” 

Hinata’s voice is the first thing that greets Yamaguchi upon entering the gym. The second thing is Kageyama throwing a volleyball at Hinata’s head with a “Hinata you idiot, he probably has detention again! Like anyone would wanna play with you when you suck so bad at volleyball.” 

“Hey! The same goes for you, y’know bakageyama! Takeda sensei says he’s joining the team now, so you’re wrong!” 

“Then why did you sound so surprised?!” 

Kei huffs and turns away from the freak duo and their squabbling, trying to tune them out. He finds his upperclassmen in various states of stretching while coach Ukai talks with Takeda and Yamaguchi about something, and so he supposes he should get ready as well. Sitting on the floor, he begins working on stretches as he listens to the upperclassmen discuss their days, and gossip about their newest member of the team. 

“I head he’s had, like, twenty detentions since school started in april.” 

“Whaaat? No way!” 

“We’ve only been in school for, like, two months!” 

“Hinata says he’s a hot shot in his year. Gets into fights off school grounds and stuff.” 

“I don’t hear about first year stuff much, but I think I’ve heard his name before. He must not be too much of a delinquent if I haven’t heard about it!” 

“Sure, Tanaka, because you’re the toughest second year.” 

“Hey!” 

Kei himself doesn’t offer up any information as the second years begin to also squabble, but he thinks about how if it were Asahi they were talking about they wouldn’t be giving credit to any rumors because “Asahi’s different, we already know him.” Not to give Yamaguchi any credit, the guy really is a jerk, but rumors get more and more exaggerated as they get spread; there’s no way half of them are true. Why would a 15 year old get in fights in the streets just for fun? It makes no sense. 

“Alright, everyone, gather ‘round!” 

Luckily, coach walks up to the already half-formed huddle the team is in as Hinata and Kageyama rush from the other half of the gym to join. Their semi-circle tightens as some of them scoot closer to one another to see. 

“We have a new teammate joining us today. You may recognize him from the neighborhood association match, and from the few times sensei has brought him here. Yamaguchi, introduce yourself.” 

Yamaguchi has an unusual stiffness to him as he steps forward, but his expression is as neutral as it always is. He looks different in his gym clothes- much different than he does when he’s breaking every rule in the dress code. Gym shirt and shorts that are inching on too small, hand-me-down shoes that are a size too big. He looks more like a kid like this. Kei is taken aback a moment, but then Yamaguchi opens his mouth, and nevermind he's just as arrogant as always. 

“I’m Yamaguchi, class 1-4. Thanks for having me, I guess...” 

Kei snorts, rolling his eyes. Figures the guy doesn’t even seem interested in being here. Yamaguchi looks over at him, his eyes challenging, but before he can open his mouth Ukai begins to speak again. Yamaguchi just sighs and finds somewhere on the edge of the semi-circle to sit. 

“As we all know, we have our first game in the interhigh tournaments next week. Don’t let the new addition phase you, our starting lineup is still the same. Just take this experience as time to work on both his skills and your own. We’ll start with some serve and receive drills, and then we’ll work from there.” 

Ukai claps, and Kei begrudgingly stands, trying to decide whether or not he wants to be on the receiving side or serving side. He’s about to step over to the serving side when-

“Yamaguchiiiiii! Give me that crazy serve you did at the neighborhood association match! Please! ” Noya only tacks on the ‘please’ when Yamaguchi doesn’t immediately respond to his request. In fact, it still takes him a second to recover from the shock; it’s clear to see that he wasn’t expecting anyone to talk to him. 

“I, uh...I mean, I can? It’s not an exact science, so you’ll be able to get a few...” He murmurs, and- is he blushing? It’s just a little bit, but it’s there. 

Noya shouts something incoherent as he practically skips to the other side of the net, and Kei snickers. 

“He looks like a miniature horse,” He says to himself, and to his surprise Yamaguchi laughs with him. Kei looks at him with a raised eyebrow, but Yamaguchi just schools his face back into it’s resting position, looking coolly back at him. 

“What?” 

“Nothing,” Kei replies, turning towards the receiving side. “Just don’t hit me in the face while you’re serving, huh?” 

Yamaguchi’s grin is dangerous, but Kei can’t help but give one in return as Yamaguchi replies, “Hm, maybe I’ll aim right for the glasses~” 

Yamaguchi, seemingly full of surprises, is actually good at working with a team. Kei had assumed that, since he hadn’t originally joined the team he’d have a problem fitting in -especially because of his harsh personality- but by the end of even their serve-and-receive drills, he’s playfully taunting Noya and any of their other teammates who want to try and receive his serve. Another point of curiosity is Yamaguchi’s serve; it’s not always accurate, and not powerful by any means, and yet one of the hardest things he’s had to receive. If he had this serve under his belt, why hadn’t he joined the team? Yeah, he’s pretty average otherwise but he’s a solid player- 

So why not join the team? 

Not that Kei cares. He doesn’t. But still. It doesn’t make sense. 

“Hey Yamaguchi, you gonna go get meatbuns with us? Daichi’s buying.” 

“No, I’ve got better things to do, but thanks.” 

The door closes behind Yamaguchi and Tanaka growls, ripping his shirt off and yelling something about “disrespectful youth, who does he think he is?!” Kei just scoffs and finishes changing. 

That Yamaguchi really is a mystery. 

-

Tadashi, as expected, warms the bench when interhighs begin. 

Sitting there while he watches the team play, spike after spike dig after dig, makes something inside him restless; he hasn’t been in a match that _means anything_ before, and even though he’s on the bench his eyes never leave the ball. 

Game one, easy win. When they leave for the day, he’s practically vibrating in his shoes. He feels like Hinata and Kageyama with the excess energy flowing through his veins. He needs to play a game. And _soon_. 

When they arrive back to school, they’re allowed to leave instead of rejoining class, and so he goes straight to Shimada Mart and serves in the back alley until his shift starts. 

“Right, so...I take it the game went well.” 

Tadashi lifts his head from his homework to see Makoto looking at him with a grin. He smiles back. 

“Maybe. How can you tell?” 

“You’re smiling. Like, on your own.” 

Tadashi rolls his eyes. “You must’ve heard from Ukai or something, because there’s no way _that’s_ what gave it away. I smile.” 

“Yeah, at a joke or when you’re talking to the kids that come in the storm. I don’t think I’ve seen you smile without being prompted before.” 

“Ha ha, you’re funny,” Tadashi says. Makoto has a strained look on his face but before he can say anything some rowdy teenagers make their way through the front entrance and Tadashi closes his book, standing straight as he waits for them to come up with their purchases. Makoto just shakes his head as he turns back to the office. 

“I’m getting someone to come in so I can watch the next game; but don’t flatter yourself, it’s not for you, I’m going because I want to see for myself how Karasuno plays.” 

“Sure, whatever you say.” 

He gets back to work, and when he comes home there’s a cupcake on the counter from his aunt. And if a smile slips onto his face, he doesn’t show it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> let me know how you feel!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karasuno's trials at the interhighs, and their ultimate defeat.

The week between their first and second tournament game is filled with practice, practice, and more practice. The entire team, Tadashi included, is filled with a vigor they hadn’t been before- they hadn’t expected to actually make it this far. Determined and high off of the win they’d scored, Karasuno volleyball club is on all systems go. Even those who warm the bench are pushing themselves more during practice, and Tadashi is not exempt. He wants to get better. Needs to. Seeing his teammates on the court has finally solidified what he'd been trying to push back since he quit in middle school: 

He really fucking loves volleyball. 

“You wanna _what_?” 

“You heard me.” 

“Yeah, yeah, jump serve. But why ask me? Doesn’t that Kageyama kid in your year have a good jump serve? You need to utilize your resources, Tadashi.” 

“You _are_ a resource, Makoto,” Tadashi rolls his eyes. “Besides, the guy isn’t exactly a _friend_ of mine. He’s actually kinda a dick.” 

“You need to learn to get along with them. Volleyball is a team sport, y’know,” Shimada says with a sigh. He looks like a tired father trying to reason with a toddler, and Tadashi resents that fact. 

“I do! I haven’t gotten in any fights with them yet.” 

“I hope you’d quit anticipating that you’ll punch one of them at some point. But, to be fair, you’d need to actually talk to them before you got into a fight with someone.” 

“Which I haven’t. They don’t seem interested in talking to me, and I'm fine with thqt.” 

“Scaring them into not talking to you doesn’t count.” 

“I’m not! Come on, I’m not a monster, Makoto!” 

Shimada holds his hands up defensively, “Alright, alright, I’ll stop teasing. But I’m serious, I don’t know how to jump serve.” 

“You don’t know how to jump serve but you can jump float?” 

“I kinda only focused on the one...” Admits Shimada, his cheeks flushed red in embarrassment; his shoulders slump. “Seriously, though. Ask one of your teammates to help. It’ll be a good time for you to bond with someone, get to know them better, maybe make a _friend_.” 

“Ugh, _fine_.” Tadashi huffs. “No promises I'll make a friend, but I'll ask Kageyama. I’m waiting until after the tournament, though; I don’t want to distract him from actual practice. I’ll just watch tutorials online for now.” 

Shimada snorts, ruffling Tadashi’s hair which causes the teen to grimace. “Whatever makes you happy, Tadashi.” 

Tadashi gets back back to work, and when the store closes Makoto lets him stay the night. Tadashi dreams about nationals. 

The match with Date Tech is harrowing. There are so many moments where they think it’s the end, but they persevere. They fly. They _win_. 

Tadashi learns a lot in the span of four hours; like the story behind the broken broom in the janitor’s closet back at Karasuno, and Karasuno’s last match against Date Tech. Or about how Kageyama got his nickname, “king of the court,” and how his teammates left him on the court, alone and with no one to rely on. He didn't know much about Kageyama before, other than he wasn't really someone Tadashi could see himself hanging out with- but even still, his story makes Tadashi feel sick to his stomach. Tadashi knows a thing or two about abandonment issues, but _damn_. Kageyama clearly doesn’t know how to socialize well, and even if he’s abrasive and rude that just isn’t fair. He deserved to have someone there. At least one person. To be replaced with a first year at your last game of the season because your teammates refuse to even play with you? What the fuck. 

He expects Kageyama's desire to prove himself to be a good thing. Expects him to push through it, just like in the Date Tech match, and keep setting even when their combos are shut down. He doesn't. It's clear to see, even from where the bench squad is cheering them on, that Kageyama's resolve is slowly tearing. 

Still, even when Kageyama flails, he doesn’t expect coach to panic either. He definitely doesn’t expect coach to _bench_ one of their star players. He’s seen Ukai play, but seeing Ukai as a coach is weird. His eyes are clinical; they never leave the court except to talk to Nishinoya or one of the other players switches out. Tadashi hears Sugawara’s name called, watches Ukai talk to him with his eyes still trained on the court in front of them. Sees Sugawara's face pale at whatever coach tells him before handing him a paddle, and there’s a soft murmur amongst the second years as they watch as well. Sugawara’s back is stick-straight, his shoulders tense as he walks up to the court, his hand shaking. He flinches as Kageyama takes the switch out paddle from his hand, but is quick to steel his nerves. Tadashi thanks every god there is it’s not him out there. Tadashi can’t help but roll his as Sugawara slaps their teammates around, clearly to get rid of some of their nerves. Or maybe to get rid of his own. 

Sugawara is an interesting player to watch. Tadashi had been next to him during their Date Tech match, and he's watched him at practice. He’s seen how Sugawara's eyes track each move, analytical and calculating. Almost like he's making a plan for a game he's not even playing. It must be a wave of relief to get to be able to throw all of his energy, all of the information he's collected, back to his teammates and to execute a plan.

Sugawara's able to score them a few points, but when coach sees Sugawara begin to struggle as well Kageyama is switched back in. Kageyama's back is set more firmly than it was before, and it occurs to Tadashi that coach wasn't mistrusting of Kageyama, he was giving him the chance to see where he could improve. When Sugawara returns to the sidelines, it’s to firm claps on the back and congratulations. His grin is wide, but behind that he looks ready to pass out. 

“Hey, you got your chance to play,” Tadashi says, giving him a shy thumbs up. They don't talk often, but he's always kind of liked Sugawara. He's calming to be around. Sugawara laughs, his eyes dancing with joy as he punches Yamaguchi's shoulder. 

“You’ll get your turn. Coach told me to tell you to get warmed up to serve soon.” 

It’s so loud in the gym, he must not’ve heard him right. 

“What?” 

“Your turn is coming up, and quick; I’d stretch while you still can.” 

“R- Right...” 

Tadashi looks back to the court, his heart hammering. Seijoh scores another point. He can see the pain and frustration on his teammate’s faces. When he looks back at Ukai, he sees their coach motioning him over. His legs shake as he makes his way to the bench. 

“What’s up, coach?” 

“We’re gonna try and win this second set with some service aces. Seijoh knows all of Kageyama’s serves, and as far as I know none of them have seen a jump floater, so you could get us a couple’a points.” 

“I don’t know about that...” 

“You’re so confident in everything else, but not this? Yamaguchi, your serve is better than Makoto’s and you’ve been practicing it for over a year. I’m putting you in.” 

“But-” 

“Yamaguchi. I trust you. Get us a couple of points, why don’t you.” 

Taking a deep breath, Tadashi nods. “O- Okay.” 

Coach has him warm up, and then sends him in. His heart hammers in his chest as he takes Hinata’s spot, bouncing the ball a couple of times to get a feel of it. The whistle blows one, two, three times and he closes his eyes, tossing the ball in the air. 

It hits the net two seconds later, and he feels his world crumble when it crashes to the floor. 

Kei doesn’t cry when they lose. Why would he? 

It’s only a game. Still, something in Kei’s chest aches as he follows the team back to the small classroom they were allotted to put their items in during the game. Maybe it’s seeing the third years holding back teas as they realize that this match may just be the end of their final volleyball season. Or maybe it’s disappointment in himself, though he can’t figure out why he’d be mad at himself. There’s not much he could have done when Seijoh was so much stronger. It was hopeless. Hinata and Kageyama have disappeared somewhere, but Kei can’t be bothered to care, really; he’s sweaty and sticky, and he wants to get dressed and debriefed so that he can go home and shower. 

The bus ride back to school, and the walk to Ukai’s home, is a long one and only when they’re sitting at the table does the silence break with a muffled sob from Asahi-senpai. Soon the room is flooded with tears, and Kei grimaces into his bowl of ramen. He doesn’t know why the others are crying; sure, the third years have reason, but the second years? Hinata and Kageyama? They’ll have another chance in a few months. 

They’re given a week off of practice, and Kei takes the opportunity- he knows no one else will, but he doesn’t feel like jumping right back into the same old bullshit right after losing. So he doesn’t. When he returns to practice, he’s not at all surprised to see half of the team has joined in on sneaking into the gym to practice during their off week. 

What does surprise him, however, is that Yamaguchi joined them. 

“Tsukishima, where the hell were you?! Coach cancelled practice, but you should still have some drive! Some work ethic!” 

“I may not be the strongest, but at least I’m not stupid enough to waste an opportunity to rest when all we’ve done is over-work ourselves for weeks.” Is all Kei responds, ducking away from Tanaka before he can wrap his arm around him. “But I don’t fault you for being too dumb to rest. You look the type to not use logical thought.” 

“Hey! I’m still your senpai, treat me with respect damn it!” 

“Yeah, yeah.” Kei wanders off to stretch, smiling to himself at Tanaka’s indignant shouting about respect and honorifics. Yamaguchi, from his own spot stretching on the floor, grins up at him. 

"’s that really why you skipped out? A whole week without coach means you get to work on whatever you want, not just receives, y’know.” 

“I quite enjoyed the time to think about anything other than volleyball, actually.” Kei says, pushing push glasses up as he looks away. “I’m surprised you let those volleyball-for-brains idiots corrupt you. I thought maybe you’d use the time to catch up on any detentions you’ve accrued.” 

Yamaguchi’s eye twitches and he crosses his arms. Kei grins because he knows he’s struck a nerve. 

“I actually haven’t gotten a detention since joining the team. You wouldn’t know, though, seeing how you haven’t even tried to make friends in the month that we’ve been on the same sports team together. Not like I wanted to be friendly with an asshole like you anyway.” 

Kei is shocked, but recovers quickly, opening his mouth to tease Yamaguchi when Takeda bursts through the gym, papers in hand, yelling something about Tokyo. So instead his mouth slams shut and he follows the others to form a semi-circle around Takeda, who talks about another practice camp; this time, in Tokyo with more teams than just Nekoma. 

...with the promise that everyone got good grades. This is no problem to Kei, but there are four helpless souls on Karasuno’s mens volleyball team- and Kei just so happens to be in college prep classes, making him the prime target for harassment from one half of the idiot squad. Which is how he finds himself in the club room well after hours, ready to rip his hair out as he tries to explain basic english to Hinata and Kageyama. 

“Yamayamaaaaa, where are you running off to? Don't you need to study too?"

Kei scoffs at Hinata's helpless whine as he drapes himself across the bench they're using as a table for books, though he's actually curious himself. "Unlike you, shrimp, some people don't need to study every waking hour to pass their exams. He’s in college prep classes, remember?"

"Hey, low blow Tsukishima! I can pass- not the point. Yamaguchi you're always in such a rush to leave after practice, where do you go?"

"Work, Hinata. Which I'm actually late to right now. I promise I didn’t forget our deal, Kageyama, but I can only tutor you guys at lunch. Text me with any problems and I’ll see if I can help over my dinner break. See you," Yamaguchi replies, and before Kei can warn him against making such promises to the idiot duo he's gone. Hinata groans.

"Man, I thought we'd get a nicer tutor than stingyshima!.. He goes straight from practice to work? How does he even have time for school?!"

Kei whacks Hinata on the back of the head but he's curious too. He knew Yamaguchi worked at Shimada Mart, he’d gotten that much out of his interactions with both Kei and with the team, but Kei hadn't thought much on how he balanced that with school and volleyball.

Maybe he should give the guy more credit.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tokyo training camp part 1! But first, a certain freak duo needs all of the help they can get to pass.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not me literally forgetting that Yachi exists until it's almost too late to incorporate her into the story. 
> 
> Anyway, it occurred to me that delinquent!Yamaguchi is just diet Kyoutani and that's been keeping me up all night. 
> 
> Also, I have so many ideas for the directions of this fic that I want to skip ahead to like right right now but I can't b/c of plot development purposes. I need to be able to build the characters up before I can burn them down but that can't stop me from dreaming. If you wanna talk to me about my plans for the AU if you aren't already caught up, or want to hear more, hit up my tumblr basically-i-write-shit. Ask box is always open.

_"So you’ll help us study, if I teach you how to jump serve?”_

_“Yes. Please. But if you tell anyone I’m asking, I’ll kill you.” Tadashi straightens from his bow, glaring at the duo in front of him but only Hinata shies away. Kageyama just meets his eyes, arms crossed over his chest like he isn’t scared of him._

_“I’ll think about it.” Kageyama says, and Hinata jumps up, hitting him on the back of the head._

_“You idiot! Take the offer before he takes it back, we need this!”_

_“Ow, dumbass! I get that, I just wanted to see if we could get a better deal! How are we supposed to play volleyball at lunch if we’re studying with him!?”_

_“Lunch and before practice are all I’m offering. From the looks of your last test grades, you’ll need any and all help you can get to pass your exams.” Yamaguchi says boredly. “I made this offer because I wanted to do something nice for my teammates, but if you don’t want to go to training camp I'll just-_

_Kageyama interrupts him before he can leave, bowing deeper than Tadashi did. Tadashi chuckles at how easy it was to make Kageyama think it was his idea in the first place. “No, I’ll do it. Please tutor us!”_

_He tugs Hinata by the collar to bow, too, and when they straighten he offers a hand to Tadashi. Tadashi takes it with a grin and shakes it._

_“Deal. We’ll start tomorrow.”_

Tadashi is really starting to regret all of his life decisions. 

He’d passed his own exams easily, but that wasn’t anything new- he’s balanced his study-to-doing-nothing ratio well since middle school, he just replaced the “doing nothing” part with volleyball instead of staring blankly at the wall at home. No, the real issue is that now he has to somehow help Hinata and Kageyama’s helpless asses. They’d failed their exams, and only have a week until their make-up exams, so while everyone else is finally relaxing somewhat, he was still holed up in the clubroom at lunch and before practice with them. They’d even started showing up before morning practice, much to Tadashi’s chagrin. 

Tadashi’s pretty sure he can at least get Hinata to pass, since he at least knew the answers and just filled in the wrong circles. They just need to keep reviewing. Kageyama, however...Tadashi isn’t all that good at english, and since he’s in a completely different section of the subject in his own classes he’s already forgotten how to do much the work that their class is doing. 

“Okay, Kageyama, let’s try again-” 

“It’s too hard, though. Can we do something else?” 

Tadashi, leaning back in his chair, takes a deep breath. If Kageyama wasn’t keeping up his end of the deal by helping him at practice, he definitely wouldn’t be doing this. Honestly, is a jump serve that important? He can just watch youtube videos to figure it out. 

“Hah, quitting so soon, King? I thought you wanted to go to training camp.” 

“I do! I just- I can’t get it, so why keep trying?! I’ll go back to that problem!” 

“Tsukishima, don’t antagonize him. I already have a headache.” Tadashi groans, still leaning back in his chair. When he opens his eyes, he sees Tsukishima’s figure, upside-down by the door. He straightens and turns. “What’re you even doing here so early?” 

Tsukishima drops his bag by his cubby and comes over to them, sitting down next to Tadashi at the bench-turned-makeshift table. “I figured I’d come and help, before you kill these idiots. Am I not welcome?” 

“Oh, no, if you can help them in any way, feel free, but I’m telling you, they’re helpless.” 

“Hey!” Hinata and Kageyama say at the same time, puffing up like defensive birds. Tsukishima and Tadashi chuckle together, which only manages to make them more offended. 

“Yamaguchi, I thought you were cool! Don’t tell me you’re just an asshole like Tsukishima is?!” 

“I’m sorry if I ever gave off the impression that I was ‘cool,’ Hinata,” Tadashi snickers. “I just can’t help it whenever an opportunity arises.” 

“So mean! Tsukishima, look what you did to him!” 

“Me? Have you met the guy?” Tsukishima rolls his eyes. “But sure, _I’m_ the bad influence.” 

Tadashi stiffens at the comment, and bites his lip before he says something stupid. _He probably didn’t mean it that way. Right?_ They’ve been on the same team for almost a month now. 

“Whatever, just see if you can get Kageyama to memorize his vocab words because I’ve tried everything.” He pushes the vocab sheet over to Tsukishima for him to see, reaching over to grab Hinata’s literature book. “Alright, shorty, let’s see if you can get all of the answers right this time. If you get one wrong we start the story over again.” 

“Right!” 

Tadashi gets to work with Hinata, and Tsukishima with Kageyama. It’s actually kind of...calming. Every now and again, they joke around and more than once he and Tsukishima bump each other's arm as they work side by side. Tadashi ignores how much that makes his heart pound in favor of just feeling _okay_ \- he doesn’t get to feel that way often. 

He wishes it would last longer. 

The other members of the team begin to filter in around seven, and so they set their work to the side and get up to change. That’s when his peaceful morning is disturbed. 

“Yamaguchi, there’s a bruise on your side!” Tadashi looks down at his side at Hinata’s shout when he sees the purplish-yellow bruise sitting there. Ah, so that’s why his ribs hurt when he moves. 

“Huh? Oh, yeah. It’s nothing.” He shrugs. Because it _is_ nothing. At least, it always is until someone brings it up. “Some guys picked a fight with me after school. Don’t tell Take-sensei, though! It was off school grounds so I can't get in trouble.” 

“Yamaguchi, that’s horrible! And that bruise looks bad.” 

Tadashi stiffens when he turns and sees his teammates aren’t brushing it off like he is. Their faces are pinched with concern, eyes trailed over the bruises on his exposed chest and ribs. He pulls his shirt on quickly with a grimace at how the quick movement pulls on taut, bruised skin. 

“Like I said, it’s nothing. I’m not helpless, a few kicks aren’t gonna kill me.” He says, and maybe that wasn’t the best thing to say because their looks of pity just intensifies. “What? Why are you staring?” 

His words seem to shake the nosy teenagers from their daze, and they all begin to get dressed again, murmurs of “nothing, nothing,” and “sorry, Yamaguchi,” before there’s an uncomfortable quiet in the room. Tadashi finishes getting dressed and makes his way to the gym first, since he has no reason to stay back. He starts setting the net up as coach finally saunters in with a yawn. 

“Oi, Yamaguchi, you’re here already?” 

“'Already' implies I’m here early, but _I_ think you’re late,” Tadashi calls back with a shrug. “Practice is supposed to start at 7, it’s 7:10.” 

“I don’t see anyone else down here.” 

“They’re getting dressed. Maybe if their coach showed up on time they wouldn’t dilly-dally all morning.” 

“Why you, _little_ -” 

“Ha! I won!” 

“Idiot Hinata, you cheated!” 

“Did not!” 

Coach is distracted from his momentary offense, and instead shifts to yelling at the idiot duo to not overwork themselves before practice even starts. A figure walks up beside Tadashi. He turns to it and sees Sugawara standing there. 

“What.” 

“Just seeing if you need help, I know this thing takes some work to set up sometimes.” 

“Well, I don’t,” Tadashi snaps. He tightens the winch on one half of the net before he moves to the other with a frown, gritting his teeth when that side hits a rusted patch and squeals. “And I know they sent you over to talk to me because of what you all saw, but I’m serious. I got beat up by some asshole, but that’s it. You should see him.” 

He's had it all, by now; teachers, counsellors, social workers, and even police, all asking if he feels safe at home, if his aunt is treating him well. Asking about the bruises. They all give up pretty quickly with how defensive he gets, but it always sets Tadashi on-edge. He'd get bruised up no matter where he goes, so he'd rather stay with his aunt if that's the case. Going to live with someone else sounds terrifying. They'd surely give him back up in a week- no one's wanted to stay around that long. 

Sugawara looks taken aback at Tadashi's harsh words. “Huh? No, Yamaguchi-kun, they didn’t say anything. I just genuinely know how much of a bitch this pole is. It hasn’t been replaced since I was here.” 

He pauses in his struggle to tighten the net, looking at Sugawara quizzically. He has that unnerving, almost piercing look he has when he’s watching their teammates on the volleyball court, but he doesn’t pry. Tadashi doesn’t know which one he’d rather have. 

“Here, let me do it,” Sugawara says, gently shooing Tadashi away from the pole, giving the winch a few hard taps before he turns it. It squeaks once, twice more before it stops and he’s able to tighten it up fully. Tadashi smiles. 

“...Thanks, I guess. I would've gotten it eventually. You’ll have to show me the trick, some time.” 

“That’s something you have to earn, Yamaguchi-kun, and I’m not giving out my secrets just yet.” Sugawara says, giving his shoulder a light punch, and Tadashi shakes his head with a small laugh, which he hides behind his hand. Sugawara, figuring it wouldn’t hurt to talk a little more as Tadashi puts the net cart away, he asks, “So, are you excited for the training camp?”

“Hm, as excited I can be at least. It’ll be fun, and a reason to get off of work, but I probably won’t get to play too much during practice matches. Coach’ll probably just play the starting lineup.” 

“Ah, you’re probably right~ But at least we’ll get to watch and do some practice drills with some powerhouse schools!” Sugawara says, slapping Tadashi’s back. Tadashi stumbles a moment, opening his mouth to snap at the older boy but Sugawara’s quick to start talking again, leaning against the doorframe of the cleaning closet. “And hey, I’ll probably get a few games in while Kageyama’s back in Miyagi taking his test! So try your best to get coach to put you in a few times, too! Because those second years are all vying for a spot next year, too, y’know, and I’m sure they’re looking for every way to show coach they’re ready.” 

Tadashi raises an eyebrow, the sides of his lips barely quirking into a smile. “Yeah? Well, we’ll have to see then.”

Coach calls them to huddle, and together they make their way across the gym. Tadashi, a few feet in front of Sugawara, doesn’t see the smile tugging at his lips. He watches as Tadashi goes to stand next to Ennoshita and Tanaka, falling more naturally into the huddle than he did before. He shakes his head. Tadashi is an interesting character- if he loosened up some more, he might even be just a little _fun_. 

-

Kei wouldn’t classify himself as a morning person. He’s _functional_ in the morning, he can get up and to where he’s supposed to be with the help of a little bit of coffee- still, no amount of coffee can help prevent the migraine that’s building up after helping Hinata and Kageyama all morning and then having practice and class immediately afterwards. By the end of the day, he wants nothing more than to go home, but he has damn volleyball practice again. 

He almost contemplates telling coach he has a headache and going home, but then he sees a pop of blonde enter the gym and thinks to himself, _“This’ll be good.”_

All activities in the gym come to a screeching halt as Kiyoko leads a girl Kei recognizes as a member of class 1-5 into the gym and to Takeda-sensei. 

“Uwah! You actually found someone, Kiyoko-senpai!” 

“Hinataaaa you knew!?” 

“A new manager?!” 

Kei observes the chaos as his teammates flock to the poor new manager. He himself wasn’t all too invested; he’d have time to get to know her, and from the looks of it she’s way too scared of them as is. Not like Kei really needs to get to know her all that well- after all, he doesn’t know Kiyoko that much. Next to him, he sees Yamaguchi cling to his water bottle a little tighter, his eyes fixed on the crowd across the gym. He snorts. 

“What, do you think she’s pretty or something?” 

Yamaguchi turns his attention to Kei, glaring. “So what if I do? She’s cute, don’t you think?” 

“Even if I did, she looks like I’d scare her off even standing near her so you definitely don’t have a chance. I’d work on making friends with the people you already know before trying to get a girlfriend,” Kei says with a roll of his eyes. He frowns when Yamaguchi’s doesn’t respond, face pinched. “What? Aren’t you the one that said you were upset I didn’t try to make friends? It goes both ways, you know.” 

He turns back to his stretches, laughing occasionally when Tanaka or Noya scare the new manager, or when Kiyoko bats them away like they’re kittens and she’s a bored mother cat. 

Kei doesn’t know why the arrival of a new manager has everyone so flustered. Sure, she’s a girl, and she is cute, but they don’t need to embarrass themselves. Especially not with someone who probably isn’t interested in them anyway, if the looks she keeps giving Kiyoko are any hint. Still. Kei himself has never really been one of those typical horny teenagers, and doesn’t think he ever will be. Or at least not towards girls; they’re always too whiny, or too shy, or too loud, or- well, too much. Plus, he thinks even if he did like a girl in the future he’d find not knowing what to do when it came to sex to be too big of an obstacle. He’s thought about it before, in bed, and it only seemed to solidify the point: he knows very well how to please a man, but the idea of pleasing a woman seems like much more effort and honestly not worth it to try. So if he were to ever have a romantic partner, which he really doesn’t want or need, he’d probably choose a guy strictly for the convenience. He really doesn’t get why they don’t get that not every girl is going to be into them, especially not one they just met. 

...So maybe that’s why he finds himself annoyed as practice continues on. Everyone, minus the bench squad and the third years, are flubbing plays trying to impress Yachi, and it’s starting to get on his nerves. For some reason, he can understand the reasons behind Tanaka and Noya, or even Hinata and Kageyama, but Yamaguchi? Kei had thought a little better of the guy, yet here he is trying to impress some girl who would probably pepper spray him if he got too close. 

Instead of letting the annoyance get to him, however, he decides to just do what he does best- play mean, and tease his teammates. 

-

Tokyo is huge. Like, _way huge_. Tadashi is glad they got off the bus in front of the school they’re staying at for the weekend, because he’d definitely manage to get lost if they had to walk anywhere. Upon their arrival, another team is waiting to greet them, and his teammates greet them all warmly. Confused and feeling awkward, he falls behind them a bit as the two teams greet. 

“Sawamura!” 

“Kuroo. Thanks for the opportunity, I promise we’ll beat you in at least one match this weekend!” Daichi and the other team’s captain, Kuroo, shake hands firmly as they speak, and though it looks perfectly normal and friendly Tadashi can see just how white their knuckles are as they do so. Suddenly the red uniforms click in his head as he remembers Ukai talking about an old high school tradition when he was younger. _So this the Nekoma-Karasuno rivalry, huh?_ Tanaka and Noya are jumped by a boy with a mohawk, who immediately screams about them having two managers now. The mohawk guy and Noya and Tanaka are both wrangled by other members of their respective teams as they’re led to where they can toss their bags before joining in on warmups. Tadashi follows, making sure not to let his eyes wander even if he wants to, oblivious to the pair of eyes following him until the owner of those eyes speaks up. 

“...You’re not Shouyou.” 

Tadashi looks down at the person who spoke; their hair was clearly dyed blonde at some point, but was rather grown out now, their eyes sharp yet somehow bored looking at the same time. They look at him, but when he looks back they return their gaze to the PSP in their hand. Some racing game Tadashi doesn't know. “Ah, no...Him and Kageyama have supplemental exams today. They’ll be here later in the afternoon, though.” He says. “Were you hoping to play with Hinata again? I hear he gets into a lot of trouble with other teams...” 

The person smiles slightly, ducking their head so their hair hides their face. “Something like that.” 

Tadashi frowns, trying to look for something to say but not finding them. They reach the room where they can put their things and quickly drop their bags off. When Tadashi turns around, the person isn’t there anymore but Tsukishima is standing in their place. 

“Don’t mind Kozume-san, Hinata says he’s just like that.” 

“Huh?” 

“The guy you were just talking to.” Tsukishima shrugs. “I saw you two talking, and then you looked confused when he left.” 

“Oh.” Tadashi nods. “He asked where Hinata was. Are they close friends, then?” 

Tsukishima shrugs again. “Hinata met him when he got lost on a run during golden week and they exchanged numbers. Apparently they talk all the time, and Kozume-san is just...like that. He creeps me out, personally; the way he looks at you on the court makes you feel like you're being disected.” 

Tadashi snorts, shaking his head. “Tsukki, you should at least give people the benefit of the doubt~” 

"As if you should be talking,” Tsukishima scoffs, and Yamaguchi lets out a full laugh now, his eyes crinkling shut as he covers his mouth with his hand. He’s too distracted to see the slight flush on Tsukishima’s cheeks, or the wide eyes staring at him behind his glasses. 

“I suppose you’re right, Tsukki. Just try and give me more credit sometimes, huh?” 

“Yeah, what- whatever.” 

This is going to be a fun training camp. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know how you feel about this! It was probably one of the longer chapters since the first one, but it feels like it's super short! LMK how you think about the chapter lengths/pacing in the comments. I tried to fit the whole training camp arc into one chapter but it felt like a lot to handle at once, so I split it. 
> 
> Next chapter: The "what more do you need than pride?!" scene reimagined


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